| All City Council legislation is introduced in a meeting of the full Council, or "Stated Meeting," and referred to committee for review. Once passed out of committee it may be referred to another committee or passed to another Stated Meeting for a final vote by the entire Council.
The City Council's 43 committees and subcommittees each have different legislative and oversight responsibilities. For instance, the Council's Education Committee has oversight over the budgets of the Department of Education and the School Construction Authority and legislation that will affect these two agencies. Each Committee is chaired by a Council Member who is responsible for setting the committee calendar, meeting agendas and for running the meetings.
The Council may also form interim task forces orworking groups dedicated to examining a particular issue. Task forces and working groups may have public hearings, take testimony and release reports and recommendations. Information on task forces and working groups may be found in the Council's Action Center.
Also, Council members may form caucuses on a long term or ad-hoc basis to examine issues that affect a particular group or demographic. Current caucuses include:
- The Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, co-chaired by Council Members Robert Jackson and Maria del Carmen Arroyo.
- Italian Caucus, chaired by Tony Avella
- Jewish Study Group, chaired by Michael Nelson
- Women's Caucus, chaired by Diana Reyna and Helen Foster.
Finally, members also meet in borough delegations to review the unique budgetary and legislative priorites of the constituency. Delegation chairs are: Bronx - Maria Baez; Brooklyn - Eric Martin Dilan; Manhattan - Gale Brewer and Dan Gardonick; Queens - Leroy Comrie Queens; Staten Island - Michael McMahon. |
